Love Means… Patience by Andrew Grey ~ Review by Brandilyn

From the Publisher:

A Love Means… Story

Years after his discharge from the Marines under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” Cody Culver lives in a PTSD-induced world all his own. On a mission, under misconceptions that Geoff and Eli are the enemy, Cody breaks into their farmhouse but is quickly brought back to his senses by a frying pan to the head. After receiving much needed help in the hospital, Cody has nowhere to go. Luckily, kindhearted Eli knows just where to turn.

When Eli asks former Marine Brick Hunter to help, Brick isn’t sure he wants to get involved. But Brick has worked through his own PTSD, and like it or not, he owes Eli a favor. With Cody struggling to rejoin the real world and Brick agreeing to take him in, they discover they have more in common than either of them thought possible.

Though Cody tries to stay in the here and now, he sometimes flashes to unexplainable traumatic events—events that don’t fit his usual war zone delusions. As the “delusions” grow more frequent, it becomes apparent they might not be delusions at all. Cody may have actually witnessed a murder.

My View

About 2 years ago, I kept hearing about a fabulous and uplifting series of M/M Romance titles by Andrew Grey. They were officially known as the “Farm” series (at least on Goodreads), but they are more colloquially known as the “Love Means” series. I think they may have been officially rebranded as such, whatever. Love Means.. Patience is the 10th title in the series (7th major work with 3 minor works). We once again visit the Laughton farm and many of the heroes from previous installments. You don’t have to have read the rest of the series to enjoy this installment, but to understand just what kind of people Geoff and Eli are, it does help.

Patience focuses on two former Marines, Brick and Cody, both of whom were discharged under DADT, and both of whom have demons through which to work. I do not remember Brick from former installments, though he might have been a minor character. It has been a while since I have read the first 9 books in the series. For those readers wishing to catch up with old friends, you get to see Geoff and Eli, Joey and Robbie (No Boundaries), Chris and Len (Healing), Duane (Family), and of course Adelle (with mention of the rest of the series’ MCs).

Brick and Cody’s story is a slow moving tale that requires patience, both on Brick’s part and that of the reader, and I saw parallels between Patience and the first story of the series, Love Means… No Shame. Cody is brought into the fold by breaking into the Laughton Farm and being suddenly trusted and treated like family, as is Eli’s way. Brick uses his own experience with PTSD to try to break through to Cody. Grey handles a Marine’s aftermath of war with grace and sensitivity. Cody is scared to believe and scared he will hurt someone. He runs from his troubles by burying himself in his own head and memories. The theme of the story is trust, acceptance, and, of course, patience, all of which Brick shows to Cody in spades. Almost to the point that he is just too good to be true.

As usual, Grey concentrates in the good in people and relegates the evil in the world to the background of the story. Instead of focusing on the antagonist if the story, you are removed from it all until the moment of impact, in this case literally, comes late in the story. All conflict created by that moment is resolved quickly and completely off page, leaving only the love and support of the characters in front of the reader. I would classify this Andrew Grey title as a good comfort read. Ready to pick up your mood and remind you that not everything in the world is complete chaos, and not everyone is out only for themselves.

Buy Links:

I would like to thank Andrew Grey for providing me with the eARC of this title in exchange for my honest opinion.

Farewell Giveaway
I have a number of paperbacks, most of which are signed, to giveaway. Over the between now (11 Mar 2017) and 31 Mar 2017, every comment on the blog (this post and all other new posts), will be entered to win 1 of these paperbacks. There are also some misc swag items, so there will be a few packs of these to give away as well.

Thank you so much for your support over the last 4 years. Prism will be closing its doors on 1 April 2017. All content will remain available, but no new content will appear after 31 Mar 2017. As such all request forms have been turned off. Again Thank you,